Chapter 185: Chapter 180: Death Chapter 185: Chapter 180: Death “You can’t be entirely sure?” A hint of mockery showed on Muria’s face. “You must be quite confident that Marquis Mendoza has fallen, but you lack crucial evidence to support your claim, right?”

“That seems to be the case.” The High Priest nodded, then looked at Muria in amazement. “But how do you know we are so confident in our conclusion?”

“Even a remote small city’s High Priest knows rumors about Marquis Mendoza, the lord of Valiant, the most famous city in the Baiye kingdom, possibly falling into corruption.” Muria looked at the High Priest. “Doesn’t this already explain your Dawn Church’s attitude towards this lord?”

“This is internal speculation within our church, not known to ordinary Divine Staff.” The High Priest paused before slowly nodding. “We do indeed have a strong conviction that Mendoza has fallen, but we lack evidence and cannot act against him. Therefore, we need you to investigate him.”

“Are you kidding me?” Muria scrutinized the man before him in a priest robe. “Your church worships a True God with a powerful divine force, yet you fear challenging a mere duke of a duchy? You need evidence to act?”

“Most of the focus and strength of our Dawn Church do not lie here, the church in Baiye kingdom is just a branch devoid of a Coffin Grand Archbishop, only a few Red-clothed Grand Archbishops. How can we dare to act against the kin of a legendary mage without evidence?”

“Kin of the legendary mage?” Muria looked intrigued, “What is the relationship between him and the Hundred Leaves Mage? To my knowledge, the legendary mage of Baiye kingdom doesn’t have any direct kin.”

“The full name of Marquis Valiant is Mendoza Inok. He’s the grandson of the Hundred Leaves Mage’s brother, one of the few kin of the Hundred Leaves Mage, so…”

“So you dare not act?” Muria glanced at the High Priest. “You really know how to play safe.”

“Heh, the Legendary mage of Baiye is the founder of this kingdom, he is the state. Without decisive evidence, we dare not and cannot put Marquis Mendoza on trial.

And if we were to make a mistake, the everything our Dawn Church has built in Baiye kingdom over hundreds of years would potentially bear the wrath of a legendary mage and utterly collapse.”

“You serve a church that worships a God with powerful divine power. Can a legendary mage really resort to taking action against you over a remote kinsman? Nonsense.”

“There’s a possibility.” the High Priest regretfully admitted, “Therefore, without possessing decisive evidence, we cannot act.”

“So, you, on behalf of the Dawn Church of Baiye Kingdom, want to commission me to investigate this Marquis Mendoza? To find evidence?”

“Yes.”

Muria’s gaze flickered for a moment. “I’m not the first one, am I? How many have you sent to investigate this Marquis before me?”

“According to our temple’s records, we have commissioned seventeen individuals to investigate Marquis Mendoza.”

“How powerful were they?”

“Sixteen of them were of Gold rank. The last one was a First Tier Soul Intent.”

“Any results?”

“We haven’t received a single piece of news. After they entered Marquis Mendoza’s castle, they never came out, including that Thief of Soul Intent level.” When speaking to this, the High Priest showed a trace of fear.

In their church, or rather, in all churches in Elasia, those of Soul Intent level are qualified to serve as Red-clothed Grand Archbishops, taking charge of affairs in a certain area.

However, now, a figure of equal standing to their red-clothed Grand Archbishop had disappeared in Marquis Mendoza’s castle, how could that not cause him to feel fear?

“Did they all die?” Muria murmured.

“No, they’ve just disappeared.” The High Priest emphasized.

“What do you think their chances of surviving are after entering the castle of a Duke who’s eight times out of ten likely to have fallen into a monster?”

“…” The High Priest fell silent.

“To appease your church’s worries, you’ve sent so many people to their death?” A mocking look appeared in Muria’s eyes. “Your compensation must be quite generous.”

“You’ll gain our Dawn Church’s friendship. Receive help in any of our temples.”

“That’s it?” Muria asked in disbelief.

“Isn’t that enough?”

“With a deathly investigation like this, you’re offering so little, how stingy.”

“What do you expect?”

“At least one or two Legendary Weapons.”

“…” The High Priest was silent for a moment. He took Muria’s casually stated condition as a tactful refusal. “This investigation task is indeed too dangerous. I understand if you don’t want to help.

Sigh, never mind, let’s leave it at that, you can leave. I won’t pursue the case of you attacking the temple any more.”

With a sigh, the High Priest gestured for Muria to leave. He never intended to pursue Muria’s mistakes from the beginning as no lives were lost, only some suffering inflicted.

Of course, most importantly, behind Muria, there might be a power not inferior to the Dawn Church. Just for this alone, he did not want to cause himself trouble.

“Leave? When did I say I wouldn’t accept this investigation task?” Muria looked at the High Priest, “I just feel that the reward you offer is too trifling.”

“Trifling?” The High Priest’s face twitched, “Gaining the friendship of our Dawn Church, you can use our Dawn Church’s teleportation arrays for free, even, for a certain price, you can use our intercontinental teleportation arrays to travel to other subcontinents.

This is the first benefit. Secondly, you can get access to all sorts of information collected by our church, such as news of the emergence of relics, you can get to know at the first moment.

The third benefit, you get the right to buy some exclusive resources from our temples.”

“Get access to information collected by your church?” Muria’s eyes lit up. This was exactly what he wanted since he came into the human kingdom.

“I’ll do this task of investigating Marquis Mendoza.”

“Are you sure? Even a Thief of Soul Intent level disappeared in his castle.”

“I’m not like those guys.”

…

A familiar yet slightly strange sense of dizziness passed over him. Muria rubbed his head and looked around before turning to the man in front of him wearing a white and gold priest robe.

The patron who was observing him, the style of his robe, was exactly the same as the High Priest Anlo in Red Leaf City. This was also a High Priest.

“Are you the Dragon Vein Mage Muria recommended by Anlo?”

“It’s me.” Muria quirked a corner of his mouth, High Priest Anlo had taken him for a Dragon Vein Mage. However, he still nodded, accepting the identity.

“You’re late.”

“What? Has the task of investigating Marquis Mendoza already been completed by someone?”

“No, Marquis Mendoza, he’s already dead.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read